Celltick empowers BSNL BUZZ *99# Service in India to promote more affordable and user-friendly financial inclusion

BSNL is pleased to announce the launch of *99# New Services on BSNL BUZZ platform in partnership with Celltick, a global leader in mobile marketing.

BSNL's and Celltick's integration will deliver user-friendly mobile banking information and is in line with the nation's Digital India 2020 vision. Through this implementation, Celltick enables the BSNL BUZZ *99# service to promote financial inclusion and makes BSNL BUZZ *99# Banking Service more affordable and user-friendly.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched *99# on the USSD platform in year 2012. The purpose of the service was to make available host of banking services to users using mobile. The service doesn't require data connection and can run even on basic feature phones making the services device-agnostic. The service is currently priced at 50 paisa per transaction.

However, due to some inherent limitation of USSD and the need to remember the #99 pull, users were finding it difficult to use the service resulting in limited uptake. Moreover, the charge of 50 paisa per transaction tended to be a price barrier in adoption and regular usage of the service. In the light of these challenges BSNL is now offering an entirely new user experience that is easy-to-use, device-agnostic, superior and seamless service, via Celltick's Live Screen technology embedded in BSNL SIM cards.

Live Screen leverages technology which is far more stable compared to the legacy USSD technology. This service would be accessible through BSNL BUZZ option embedded in the BSNL SIM cards STK Menu. A user can do 60/150 transactions in a month after paying Rs. 15/30. This brings down transaction cost to 25p/20p per transaction from existing 50p per transaction. BSNL is the first TSP to launch this service at these affordable rates.

"BSNL BUZZ powered *99# service will provide an improved user experience thereby enriching our customers banking access experience," said CMD BSNL, Shri Anupam Shrivastava, "Customers will be able to transact with their mobile device providing high value at a lower cost, given that price is a key element in mobile banking adoption and usage. This service has the potential to become the primary transactional tool for a large segment of the Indian population for financial transactions," he continued.

"Powering *99# service via Live Screen on BSNL BUZZ on millions of BSNL connections is a win-win for everyone: mobile advertisers, participating merchants, subscribers and of course, BSNL," said Abraham Punnoose, Managing Director, India & Africa, Celltick. "The result is an easy-to-use mobile payment mechanism to enable and accelerate the adoption of mobile money transactions. We are proud to be partnering with BSNL on such a strategic service in line with the Digital India 2020 Vision."

About BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is an Indian state-owned telecommunications company and is one of the largest and leading public sector units providing a comprehensive range of telecom services in India, operating more than 100 Million lines. BSNL with its wide coverage and state-of-the-art network constantly endeavors to innovate to provide best-in-class services to its customers.

Celltick is an established leader in creating content-based mobile engagement products and services for mobile operators, device manufacturers and app developers. Celltick has been profitable since 2009 and has generated more than $1B cumulative gross revenue since its inception. Celltick has over 100 customers, including America Movil, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Airtel, Tencent, Xiaomi and ZTE. Celltick is a global company with offices in Singapore, Mumbai, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Herziliya and the San Francisco Bay Area.